I Haunt my own House

So, I played around with the settings on our Cannon Rebel XT Digital SLR camera for fun trying to create RAW images. While I was not able to find this feature, I did figure out how to take remote pictures (this means having the camera connected to my PC and snapping pictures without touching the camera). This freaked Kelli out a little. The feature is only good if you wanted to make adjustments on the fly or see the full image immediately.

More importantly though, another trick I stumbled on was generating the ability to ghost myself in the picture. Here is one. Kelli just thought I was a goofball. Allie wants to be a ghost too, Kelli said she wasn't old enough, but she will someday.

Action!

I think Allie is going to be crawling before long. Here is photo of her trying move. Moments before this photo was snapped, she proped herself up with her arms and held her head up for a minute or so just looking around in wonder.


That little activity reaped rewards of her passing out on me while I watched the Ken Bearns PBS special on WWII.


Non related to Allie, Sunday night I take the trash out. Monday morning our trash is collected, so I also move the Cans, and recycling bin, closer to the alley. (ha...I guess this is related to Allie in way!!) On with the story... So I open the gate and what is standing at the edge of our garage/shed in the middle of city?!? A skunk. This one was mostly white with a narrow stripe of black running from it's head to it's tail. I quickly halted and Pepe' decided to back up and took off somewhere dodging any spray incident. Kelli and I were going to tear down the garden, but I think Kelli and I need to can those tomatoes for pratcial reasons. I have a bad feeling I may be blogging about this same skunk later.

Allie Dancing to 'Jive Talkin'

Yawning is interesting?

How can yawning be interesting? Have a new born and you'll find out. Pretty well everything they do is interesting.

Allie is 3 weeks old and has these monstrous yawns that end with her putting her lips together in a small "O" shape and sticking her chin as far away from her body as possible.

I know I'm a guy, and guys don't typically type this stuff about their kids, but darn it, she is too cute not to type about.

Here is one Yawning picture and one normal picture.

Lewis and Clark Half Marathon

I ran the Lewis and Clark Half Marathon today earning myself another medal and a bonus run around town medal. My time was 1:57:xx. With Allie being born I haven’t been able to train but was glad just to finish under the two hour time marker.


Later we celebrated Dee’s 22nd Birthday. Fun times, but now I am exhausted!

Annie's Frozen Custard

We took Allie on her first non-medical related outing. We went to Annie’s Frozen Custard, which is a few blocks away. It gave Kelli a chance to leave the house confines as well as get some fresh air.

I got in trouble almost immediately for popping a wheelie with Allie in the stroller. She didn’t seem to be upset because a block later she was asleep.

Umm, umm. Annie’s was good.

Birthday

It was my 29th birthday today and pretty well kicked ass actually.

We started off in the afternoon visiting the pediatrician for the first time. Allie, it turns out, is very healthy and has surpassed her birth weight by 2oz to 9lb 4oz. She wasn’t expected to do this for another week so we say she’s very healthy (chunky).

Then I came home and hooked up our telephone line and DSL. Side note, Kelli and I have not had a phone line or internet in our home for 5 years, and we still don’t have cable. Were so Stone Age, but hell we’re never home enough to watch it, or do we stay busy because we don’t have cable. Hmmmm, I’ll digress.

Then I went and purchased the DCR-SR42 Sony Handy Cam from Best Buy. It has a 30Gb HDD built in with a touchpad LCD. It’s sweet. A slight ordeal though at Best Buy. I purchased the Handy Cam w/extended warranty, a LAN Phone, and a tripod for the Handy Cam and Digital SLR. (I should post pictures Kelli takes with the SLR. They are amazing.) Any way, I had a 12% discount from Best Buy because it was my birthday so I used it. Only the clerk kept applying it to the smaller $70 items and not the $600 camera. I kept explaining the huge price difference which she never caught on until she got it right and a Manager came over expecting me to back down, before finally overriding the system. I win, it’s my Birthday.

Later my Family came over and my Sister gave me a wireless remote for my PS2. This is something that should have been purchased a long time ago. Dee, is brilliant.

This could have been the best electronic birthday ever. I went to bed somewhere around 1:30 in the morning because I kept messing with all the electronic stuff. I was like a kid with a sugar busy that kept going until I finally passed out.

Yeah, my 29th was pretty darn good. Oh speaking of old; a week earlier I got carded for a lottery ticket. Seriously, you have to be 18 to buy a lottery ticket. She thought I looked 18!

Happy Birthday-from the Rose's

To set this video up, the audio is a message left on my cell phone from Jackie and Ed wishing me a happy birthday. I can't tell you how much I enjoy there random phone calls so this is my attempt to let it live in infamy. I have no software to do audio editing (and even less time to investigate) so I grabbed some pics, used my new fancy HDD Sony Handycam, and shot this gem.

Mixed Household

Allie is going to be raised in a mixed house hold. Here is a picture to prove it.

It's going to be rough growing up around St. Louis Allie, but stay the course.

First Bath

So evidently Allie hates baths right now.

She gets so upset and she sticks her little chin up in the air as far as she can with a just as cute pouting face.

After the may lay was over, will held her only to hear whimpers as though she went through the most traumatic event ever. (It wasn’t the most traumatic event. I watched her being born, that had to be the most traumatic event.) Either way, she’s makes our once quite evenings a distant monotonous memory.

Attention!! We've got Jaundice!!!

All days now are spent with family and friends. In fact Allie meet her cousin Braydon today. It's funny people used to come over to visit Kelli and I. Not so much anymore. Now it's all about Allie.

It was around 7 pm my mother in law raised our concerns about Allie having Jaundice. Now we knew she looked a little yellow, and it was to be expected since Kelli is nursing. My wife, I know from past experiences, tends to not get excited about much but when she finally gets excited, it’s serious. Combine that with just enough medical knowledge to be dangerous and you’ll see she is dangerous. (She diagnosed a stomach ache I had as an emergency room trip to have an appendix removed. I still have my appendix.)

Now her mom is a nurse at a children’s hospital and I found also thinks in the extreme direction. So when her mom questioned the jaundice the both of them sent the conversation quickly into the direction of Allie having mental retardation.

This drives me nuts. After the mental retardation comment I was ready to drive to the Emergency room, ASAP. I really don’t want to become the worst parent ever who let the jaundice get so bad….well you know.

2.5 hours later they finally had stopped talking about it and now we’re ready to go the Emergency room. We hopped in the car, and the car won’t freakin’ start. Folks, this is the very second time Allie has gone on a car ride. One thing I do, that probably drives my wife crazy is blow up at the drop of a hat. This is the moment I usually lose it, but with the concern in Kelli’s face I keep it together. Do some finagling and start it after a few more tries.

Okay we’re on our way and I convince myself, and attempt to assure Kelli, this can’t be too bad. Her point is as long as his would have been planned, this would not be upsetting, but this is unplanned and she’s only 4 days old and we’re taking her back to the hospital. We get there 10pm’ish, sign in and head to the registration area. We get to the window and the lady asks, “May I help you.”
Kelli starts to answer “We..” stops and just starts crying while holding Allie.
The lady looks at me. “Umm yeah, we need to get a Jaundice test done.”

We go through the sign in rigmarole and finally go in for the test. They need to do a blood test. The lady takes Allie and lays her on the bed and tries to draw blood from her heel. They need two samples incase the first sample doesn’t get them the information they need. This is bad news for Allie. The lady couldn’t draw blood to save her life and after each blood droplet she collects shakes the jar. Clearly I can see she has a way to go, but she does it every time. She even laughs when Allie cry’s. This sends Kelli’s once upset mood into that of a defensive cat, hairs on the back of her neck sticking straight out and all. 20 minutes later we were both pissed and Allie’s heel is now purple instead of the vibrant pink. (For those that do not know me, I don’t exaggerate, I’m factual. It took her 20 minutes)

We just waited in the parking lot for the pediatrician to call. Our levels were at 15.4 so they were higher then the 8.7 when she left after the birth discharge. He said this wasn’t surprising, since 4 days is when they peak and to come back the next day.

We did and the level dropped to 15.2 so he said she probably already peaked, was at the plateau and is now coming down. He was right. . By the way when we got the test done the next day, it took a different lady only 2 minutes and when Allie cried she said. “Ohhh, Why don’t mom come over here to tell you it will be okay.” What a Huge Difference and that was the most perfect thing that lady said considering the blood nurse of the previous night!

So now Allie is free of Jaundice, and Kelli is fine, I’m relaxed, but most importantly we didn’t cause our daughter to become mentally retarded…yet.

Carpool #5

Baby Allie came home today. We left Memorial for the journey to Edwardsville which, for those that don’t know, is mostly Highway driving. Half way home, on Highway 255, an unusual event occurred that I would normally take great interest in this.

50 yards in front of us are two cars locked in game of “Road Rage”. They were swerving back and forth over 3 lanes with the lead vehicle keeping the pursing vehicle from passing. I looked at Kelli and said “Seriously, don’t they know we have a new baby on board?”

Naturally I slowed down to 25 mph to let them get really far ahead but what a crazy incident for Allies first car ride. I hope this isn’t a telling sign of our future car rides with her.

Just another day and life in the Carpool.

Baby Girl

We have a new family member. Allie Louise. She was born at 11:26 p.m on 29 August 2007. Weighing in at 9lbs 2oz, 20inches long.

The nurses let us know Mom had braggin' rights for the biggest baby that day. :-)

All I can say is what an unbelievably exciting and exhausting time.

Kelli was wonderful, never complaining the entire time and had smile on her face the second Allie was introduced into this world.

One last note: This kid is tough. She already raised her head off my shoulders on the first day!! Also hospital foldout chair beds are not comfortable.

Carpool-4

Kelli and I carpooled again today. We have our last and final Baby Class tonight, “Baby Care and Parenting” after work.

So on our way to my work, it occurred to me Kelli was supposed to pay our tax guy for our taxes from April. She hadn’t in 3 months so I did. However, since her farm stuff drug our taxes way down and we weren’t getting a return I told her this was her responsibility.

“Kelli, you owe me money”, I said.
“For what?”
“Taxes that I had to pay for you.”
“Oh.” she shrugged, “How much do I owe you?”
“$100”
She then digs into her purse, pulls out her wallet, she rummages through and finally hands me a $100 Bill. “There. Are we even?”

I looked at her quizzically as this is not a normal routine to have $100 bill just whipped on a whim for us. “What? You said a hundred, right?” she asked

“I guess,” with a confused and scared look as I stuff the $100 into my pocket to bring my total money count I have on me to $101.15.

It just goes to show, I never know what will happen carpooling with Kelli.

Touring Cyclist Biathlon

I completed the 4.5Mile Run and 23Mile Bike race today.

4.5M Run = 0:36:17 for a 8:27 Pace
23M Bike = 1:21:26 for a 16.9 MPH Pace
Total Time = 1:57:43

This did not get started on the right note. I showed up late and was putting up my bike as the lady was counting down “5, 4, 3, 2, 1!!” I started my watch put the rest of my gear by my bike did one attempt to touch my toes stretch and started running to the start line. I officially started in dead last.

I’ve never done this race before but found it was a very hill course and provided a formidable challenge that I will hopefully do next year. At a few points the hills got so steep I thought my legs were going to explode both on the run and bike. I ended up finishing 62 of 119.

Not great, not bad, but all in a days work.

Inaugural Clubhouse Triathlon

What a hoot!

I was race director and my wife took over the role as head coordinator because she said she didn’t like the way the race director was making decisions. (I’m so lucky).

My goal was to have a dozen (12) people participate. Our official count was 26 total triathletes with another 4 people who only did certain parts of the event. I better then I expected. I even had shirts made by Kelly Tracy who owns/operates Kelly Tracy Advertising and Design, for a total count of 47 shirts, volunteers wanted the shirts as well.



Credit should definitely go to my Kelli’s family who not only kept the excitement of the race going and filled over half the field, but also had the area/land to do this. There was already a buzz about next year once the event was finished and sitting in the shade eating burgers/brats and drinking beers.

Finish Time
# Name Type Start End Time to (Next) Time to Finisher (First) Finisher
16 Ed t 0:00:00 0:43:49 0:00:00 0:00:00
34 *Tim* t 0:00:00 0:45:30 + 0:01:41 + 0:01:41
19 Evan t 0:00:00 0:47:54 + 0:02:24 + 0:04:05
2 Mike G t 0:00:00 0:49:06 + 0:01:12 + 0:05:17
28 Laura t 0:00:00 0:49:40 + 0:00:34 + 0:05:51
12 Clare t 0:00:00 0:50:16 + 0:00:36 + 0:06:27
26 Kyle A t 0:00:00 0:50:38 + 0:00:22 + 0:06:49
18 Erica t 0:00:00 0:51:10 + 0:00:32 + 0:07:21
24 John L t 0:00:00 0:53:06 + 0:01:56 + 0:09:17
33 Scott t 0:00:00 0:53:08 + 0:00:02 + 0:09:19
23 Joe L t 0:00:00 0:53:21 + 0:00:13 + 0:09:32
20 Grant t 0:00:00 0:53:27 + 0:00:06 + 0:09:38
21 Jackie t 0:00:00 0:53:28 + 0:00:01 + 0:09:39
31 Melissa t 0:00:00 0:53:35 + 0:00:07 + 0:09:46
13 Collin t 0:00:00 0:56:08 + 0:02:33 + 0:12:19
9 Amanda t 0:00:00 0:56:11 + 0:00:03 + 0:12:22
27 Kyle S t 0:00:00 0:59:56 + 0:03:45 + 0:16:07
22 Jake t 0:00:00 1:01:53 + 0:01:57 + 0:18:04
30 Megan t 0:00:00 1:08:13 + 0:06:20 + 0:24:24
11 Christinet 0:00:00 1:12:05 + 0:03:52 + 0:28:16
36 Team D.A.M.r.t. 0:00:00 1:13:53 + 0:01:48 + 0:30:04
14 Andy t 0:00:00 1:13:58 + 0:00:05 + 0:30:09
8 Alyssa t 0:00:00 1:23:05 + 0:09:07 + 0:39:16
15 Deanna t 0:00:00 1:23:05 + 0:00:00 + 0:39:16
17 Emilie t 0:00:00 1:23:05 + 0:00:00 + 0:39:16
1 Larry t 0:00:00 1:23:30 + 0:00:25 + 0:39:41
3 Mikey Joeb 0:00:00 DNF
4 Oscar b 0:00:00 DNF
7 Lucas s 0:00:00 DNF
10 Brian t 0:00:00 DNF
25 Kevin t 0:00:00 DNF
29 Lisa t 0:00:00 DNF
32 Ryan t 0:00:00 DNF
6 Tom b 0:00:00 DNF
35 Jeff DNF


Many thanks to the Volunteers. Congrats to all that completed the event, and we’ll see you next year.
Tim

July 4th

Wednesdays 4th of July’s are strange. It just doesn’t feel like the 4th because rather then being in party (or rather fun energetic) mode it’s like a Sunday because you have to work the next day.

What happened strange,…oh yes, it stormed. Not just any storm though. Where I enjoyed the 4th of July day it stayed dry yet had a lot of clouds all around us. This also kept a nice breeze on us the entire day with hardly any humidity which is strange for the Midwest (St. Louis Area) until 7:30 when the weather finally broke, and then it was humid. So that was strange.

Ok second we were eating BBQ, and as mentioned before it was storming all around. Well this was my first time I’ve ever heard Horizontal Lightning. It went right over our head. It was pretty wicked and freaky all in the same breath. A few dogs got scared but the ones who go duck/goose hunting could have cared less, which was kind of funny. A few ladies ran inside, but to hear the lightning travel overhead was quite different.

The guys didn’t go in however. Nope, we were too tough, too macho, and too stupid.

Tim

Blinds

We got new neighbors. What an emotionally anxious time. Will be they be nice, fun, mean, annoying?

Well, I'll answer the big question; They’re annoying. They officially have not moved in for 2 weeks now and are taking their sweet time painting. What’s annoying is when they leave at night, they leave their back porch light on. This light bulb has to be a 100Watt if not a 200Watt. It's on all night all day and then when I get home around 6p.m. they are painting and the light is off. They leave at 9:30p.m. and the light is on again all night.

The real problem is that is shines right into our bedroom. I’m talking full illumination. Sleep for me is hard. I’m that type that could lie in bed for several hours before falling asleep. So this light is wreaking havoc on me. When I do fall asleep and wake up, I’ll look at the blinds and start waking up, because I think its daylight. My system is all screwed up.

The only small shred of hope is once they move in; they’ll turn it off, rather then leave it on.

P.S. This has not affected my wife, Kelli. She falls asleep with the lights on.

Clubhouse Triathlon

Practice Run:

Train, Train, Train. Three of us did a practice Triathlon I’m putting together at my in-laws clubhouse and all three completed the .25Mile Swim, 4.5Mile Bike, and 2.5Mile Run in under 1 hour, but it came at a toll. 51min and two 57min finishes.


It was a much needed test run.
We determined a flare of some sort needs to be used to signal the beginning of the event vs. the towel that was waved. (It’s hard to spot .25Miles a way with goggles on.)

Also an extra water station should be added, if nothing more then to throw water over the body to cool off.

Last it appears everyone will need a participation medal. Triathlons are difficult. As I said in the beginning… “Train, Train, Train”

Relay for Life

Kelli and I participated in Relay for Life on the team of Koehn(pernounced "Kane") Lawn Care.

At the Relay someone on your team is supposed to walk around the track at all times. I haven’t run in a while because I’ve been sick so after the llumination ceremony I decided to run. After the first 30min, I decided to shoot for 1hour. After the 1hour I was hurting but put in a good fight and go another 15 min of running in for good measure.

When I got back to our Team area, I wanted to get a picture of Kelli and I. Kelli hated getting in this picture because I’m so sweaty. You would think she would be used to this by now.



Fortunately this year we didn't have to stay all night becasue of the prego and got to go home early...12:30 in the morning.